“Oh…okay. Well, that’s nice,” I said and looked down at my wine glass. I didn’t notice Dana staring at me, until she started her nervous laughter. “What?” I asked, not amused.
“Wow…you really like him, don’t you?”
My mouth hung open.
“What? No!” I argued. “I just didn’t know he was seeing someone. That’s all.”
Dana shrugged. “Doesn’t have to mean that he’s seeing someone. It’s a huge deal, and he would look bad not having a date.”
But why am I not that date? The thought left me, and I couldn’t deny that was exactly what I was thinking.
“I think your face is telling me that you really do like him and believe me…I can’t really blame you. He’s fine in all the right places.” She wiggled her flawlessly arched eyebrows and I looked away from her. I just needed to make sure I wasn’t thinking negative things about him, when he deserved better.
“Are you sure he’s taking someone?” I asked.
Dana heaved a sigh. “I’ll look to make sure I read it right.” She grabbed her phone, pulled up his schedule and nodded. “Yep, it says he ordered two tickets to the gala tonight.” She hesitated and gave me a somber look. “I’m sorry, Tasha.”
I laughed, blowing it off.
“No reason to be sorry. It’s not like I’m his woman or anything. I feel nothing for him, just wish I could make that extra money babysitting,” I lied.
I finished off the dinner feeling like a fool as I tried desperately to keep Dana from connecting the dots to my fling with Matt. She was my bestie, so it was a good possibility that she already knew my true feelings but was sparing me the embarrassment of addressing them right then.
I thought Matt truly liked me, but if he was putting another woman on his arm in public, then he obviously didn’t want to be seen with me. He didn’t even want me to watch Cody while he went to the party, so clearly, he was hiding this from me.
Maybe he just asked me to come home with him as a ploy, knowing he would eventually take me back to my apartment and I wouldn’t suspect anything when I didn’t talk to him later tonight. Oh, I was wrong about us. I just wondered why he was trying so hard to impress me, if I was just some convenient booty.
***
I laid on the couch to watch TV later that evening, still upset that Matt was going to go out with some other woman, when I heard a knock on the door.
“Coming!” I called, trudging my way to the door. When I opened the door, I found a delivery man standing there with flowers and an envelope. “Hello,” I said to him.
“Are you Ms. Baker?” he asked.
“Yes,” I stated, nodding my head and staring at the beautiful red roses in his hand.
“These are for you!” He handed me the flowers and envelope.
I signed the paper and thanked him, then opened the card as I shut the door behind him.
The card read:
Baby, I wanted you to come home with me, so I could surprise you with a night out being treated like a queen. My queen. With this big celebrity couples party happening in a few hours, you don’t have time to turn me down again. I need a date tonight, and I need it to be you. So, put on the black dress you picked out in Colorado. I’d love to see you in it again. See you at eight. Your man, Matt
I stared at the card and his writing. I couldn’t believe it. He wanted me to be his date all along and there I was wallowing in self-pity, thinking he was only using me. I felt guilty for even considering that he would mistreat me like that. Then, I smiled and immediately jumped to getting dressed. I had a date to get ready for.
Chapter Thirteen
Matt
Party for Charity
The slow song came on as the DJ finished up his sentence. Tony Braxton’s “Breathe Again” made me smile as I casted my eyes towards the door. Tasha should’ve been there any minute. In fact, I was surprised she hadn’t arrived yet. It had only been a few hours since I last saw her, but I longed for the moment when I could lay my eyes on her again. I was looking forward to showing her off as my woman. When I got the invitation, stating plus one, I knew she would take that spot next to me. Showing her off to the world had quickly become my obsession and couldn’t wait for our debut as a couple. My days of attending these galas alone, or with a random pick from my address book, were officially over.
It was after nine and I looked around the room. There was still no sign of Tasha, but plenty of celebrities, men and women, that would gladly give their money for the kids mixed and mingled and seemingly enjoyed themselves. This gala was all about pulling people together to make a difference. It also just happened to be my favorite charity.
The slow love ballad played on and it could have easily become our song, but since Tasha wasn’t there, I wasn’t so sure we would get the chance to claim the dance floor. When my eyes made their way back to the door, I saw her. It wasn’t Tasha. Instead, it was someone Tasha wasn’t fond of. Melinda Lory came walking through the door. Her eyes scanned the room, and it was like a magnet drew her to me, as she glanced in my direction. She beamed with a smile that crossed her face and, before I could make my getaway, she headed my way.
“Hey, Matt,” she said, having stalked right over to me. Her heavy makeup made her look almost clownish, and given the way she treated my lady she looked twice as bad to me.
I nodded my head and looked at her. “Hey, Melinda.” Then, I turned away from her to watch the door, checking to see if Tasha would come in. The last thing I wanted was for her to find me in the vicinity of the one person she despised most.
“Beautiful night to save babies’ lives, don’t ya’ think?” Melinda asked.
I shot her a sharp look and arched an eyebrow. “Well, I would say every night is beautiful if you could save a child’s life.”
My tone was not inviting for further conversation, but she didn’t pick up on that. She laughed and nodded. “Well…you have me there, Matt.” She then started to laugh while holding her hand to her chest like I was hilarious. I noted how she was being overly friendly. The fact that she had no idea that Tasha and I were dating was no doubt the reason. She reached out and touched my shoulder, stopped laughing, and caught my stare. “I never knew how strong your biceps were, Matt. Wow, you are built,” she said, giggling. Her eyes traveled down the cut of my tailored suit from my chest to my shoes, then back up.
“Ha.” I looked away from her. It wasn’t very subtle the way she was flirting, but I found it funny, since I had no mutual interest in her. “Thanks, Melinda,” I said. I snickered and continued to look off in the direction of where Tasha should be entering any moment, when I heard Melinda’s voice again.
“I just love this song,” she said. I turned to look at her and she had a dreamy look in her eyes. “It’s a great song to dance to, don’t ya’ think?” she asked, wriggling her brows.
“Yeah,” I said, and I shouldn’t have given in to her obvious plea for attention, but the fact remained that I was looking out of sorts just standing there anyway. She started swaying to the music in front of me, so against my better judgement, I just moved slightly from side to side.
Her eyes widened with a child-like glee, and I immediately regretted the obvious expression of excitement on her face. “I’d would love to dance with you,” she said, as if I had asked her to dance with me.
She held out her hand, and took a few steps toward the dance floor. I didn’t take her hand, but I did follow her over to the dance floor. Melinda started to dance, while I maintained the perfect viewing area of the main entrance, waiting for Tasha. Melinda was talking away, and my eyes never left that location. “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge reverberated through the room, and I swayed to the beat a little bit. I kept telling myself to bring up the situation that happened with Tasha’s at her magazine company, but I wrestled with whether Tasha would want me to take a stand for her or not. I didn’t want to upset Tasha. I also didn’t want to stand by knowing that I could eat Colorful Times for dinner and spit the
bones out to snack on later, but did nothing.
“Are you even listening to me?” Melinda asked me at one point, a sound of irritation thick in her voice. She just didn’t know how close I was to owning her, and not in the way she wanted me to.
“What?” I looked back at her and pretended to be surprised she would ask such a question. “Of course, I’m listening.”
“Well…you looked like you were ignoring me,” she said, smiling and looking content again.
A glowing smile brightened my face because alas I spotted her. My whole mood shifted as she stepped into the ballroom. I stopped my robotic movements, leaving Melinda swaying to the beat alone. Tasha was breathtakingly beautiful in her black cocktail dress and matching shawl that hung over her brown shoulders that looked almost bronze in the party’s dim lighting. She was even more beautiful in that dress than when I she tried it on in Colorado. I ignored the way Melinda stared at me, mouth gaping, as I gawked at the only woman who deserved my attention.
Without a word, I moved on. Tasha’s eyes went to mine and she grinned. I met her in the middle of the room. I wrapped my arm around Tasha’s waist and pulled her close to me. “You look gorgeous tonight,” I said, trying to maintain my composure in the fight to keep all of my blood from running south.
She smiled with pride. “You aren’t looking so bad yourself, Mr. Wilde,” said teasingly. She winked, and my lips dipped down to hers. All eyes were on us, because she was the most beautiful woman in the room. When we parted from the kiss, she licked her lips. Seeing her tongue glide across her cherry colored lips caused a reaction in me. One that I would help me lose the battle I was already fighting over just the sight of her.
“You’re going to make me punish you.”
“What did I do?” she asked with a raised brow. “Oh, if it’s because I’m so late. I’m sorry. Traffic was not on my side, but I appreciate the invitation.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter in the least that she was late. However, I was thoroughly bothered that she had arrived looking sexier than I ever imagined. I was anxious to get the party started, so I could take her home and punish her for a few reasons. Being so beautiful was only one of them.
“You’re the only one I would want by my side right now, and it doesn’t matter about the time because you’re here now, and I don’t want to miss a beat. I was talking about you calling me Mr. Wilde.”
“Oh,” she giggled. “Sorry Matt.”
“Care to dance?”
She smiled. “It would be my pleasure.” She grabbed onto my hand and I walked her out to the middle of the dance floor. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Melinda frowning at us. Tasha seemed to notice her too, because she stepped in closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her as we fell into a gentle beat of swaying to “Smash Into You” by Beyoncé. Our eyes never turned from one another’s as we continued to dance.
“We have an audience,” she whispered a few songs later.
I, too, had noticed Melinda watching us and making ugly faces, which wasn’t hard for her to do with her unpleasant attitude. I didn’t like Melinda in the way that she clearly liked me. It was Tasha that had my heart and no amount of staring was going to change that.
“Yes, she’s been on me since she got here. I don’t care if she dies a slow death due to envy; the woman who has my heart is in my arms and that’s all that matters,” I said and grazed my lips across Tasha’s. “But since she’s watching…we could give her something to stare at,” I said, wrapping my hand around Tasha’s neck and pulling her into a deep kiss. When our kiss collided and danced to the beat of the current ballad, I swore I heard a collective sigh coming from Melinda’s direction. I wasn’t about to let her ruin our night, especially when I had plans that would only make Tasha and I grow stronger.
After hours of mingling with other guests, dancing, and cuddling with Tasha, I left her side only to go to the restroom. When I returned, I walked up to Tasha and wrapped my arms around her, then pulled her to me, so that her back was against my body.
“Having fun?” I whispered in her ear.
She looked up at me and smiled. “For the most part yes,” she said, chuckling lightly.
I frowned. “For the most part?”
She rolled her eyes. “I heard Nina and Melinda cackling over there when you left, and I’m pretty sure I heard my name being thrown around.” She motioned with her head towards a corner where a taller, slender woman had joined Melinda. I figured she was Nina, Melinda’s plus one. Neither lady had shown up with a man as their date. “A curve ball was definitely thrown her way when she spotted us together. Poor girl…almost feel sorry for her. Almost!” Tasha said, laughing.
I glanced their way again. Nina and Melinda were staring right at us, then glancing to Tasha and breaking up laughing. Whatever, they were discussing, I wasn’t about to let it spoil Tasha’s mood. She was enjoying the night, and they were just caddy and wanting to make Tasha uncomfortable, like she didn’t belong at the party…or by my side.
“Baby, we belong together. You know that, right?” I asked.
“Matt, I know that,” she said, searching my eyes for my reasoning for saying that.
“Come with me,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind me.
“Matt, where are we going?” she asked.
I quickly moved towards the outside balcony.
She could barely keep up, asking the question again. “Matt…where are we going?”
“I have to show you something,” I said simply, then pulled her out onto the balcony and was relieved to see we were alone.
The cool air hit me immediately, but I wasn’t about to pull back. I wrapped my arm around her waist and walked her to the side of the building, then pressed her back against the wall. Our lips met and soon we were heatedly devouring each other’s lips, just outside of the room filled with who’s who of entertainment. As my tongue grazed against hers, I pulled her leg up and around my waist, inching her dress up, so I could touch between her legs. I stroked her inner thighs and she jerked against me, just from the feel of my hand on her skin. She laughed, as I tickled her slightly.
“Matt…they can see us,” she said, breathlessly parting from the kiss and pointing toward the door we exited from.
“Who cares?”
Her eyes lifted to mine and she held a naughty grin on her lips. I wrapped my hands around her neck and pulled her to me, bringing her lips back to mine. She gasped, tossing her head back against the building.
“You’ll care when we get arrested for indecent exposure,” she said, giggling sweetly.
She pushed me away and took a step toward the door, but it was too late. I had to have her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me. She looked like she was about to argue, when I captured her lips against mine once more.
She moaned, trailing her fingers along the back of my neck and just getting lost in the moment, until her lips slipped from mine. She swallowed, and I grabbed her hand and pulled her further away from the sliding door, to one of the balcony’s corners. She giggled when I turned her around so that her back was to me, and I was facing her dress zipper. I lifted her hair up and out of the way and slowly slid the zipper down. I removed one shoulder from the dress and took my lips to her shoulder. She tried to murmur something about us getting caught, but I wasn’t hearing it. I planted my bulging erection at the center of her ass and started swaying my hips our own beat.
She tossed her head back and stared up at the sky. I imagined she was praying we didn’t get caught, as I slowly pulled her dress up.
“Matt…” her voice trailed away with the cool winter air that seemed to pick up in intensity, causing me to move quicker to get her dress up over her ass, so I could heat us up.
Then, she turned around and looked down at the zipper of my pants with a sneaky grin. She took over, grabbed onto the zipper and slowly pulled it down. I looped my fingers into the sides of her panties and tugged them down, all while she grabbed onto my boxers and pulled the
m down slightly.
With my cock exposed and her heated wetness ready for me, I pushed her back against the building and hungrily kissed her. My tongue slipped between her lips and collided with hers.
“God Matt, I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she breathlessly said between kisses.
“Oh baby,” I growled against her lips, when she reached down and started to stroke my erection, making me rock hard. “We’re just getting started,” I said and excitedly rammed my tongue in and out of her mouth. I groped her soft and succulent breasts and moaned into her ear. The aching in my cock had me longing to be buried inside of her. The tip touched her opening and her wetness was spilling over, driving me insane just from the slickness of her juices in contact with my dick.
She lifted her hand that was touching my rod and placed it on my arm, and I pressed myself against her. My lips left hers and I went down and started to kiss her neck. Then, I swiftly lifted her right leg and plunged into her sweet abyss. She whimpered, and I withdrew my erection and plowed back into her.
“Yes…oh God Matt…yes…” she moaned. Her eager acceptance of me gave me extra energy. I pulled back and out of her, then rammed into her again, bucking my hips against her fast and hard. She shrieked, and my fluid and quick thrusts continued with the aim of taking us both to ecstasy. She bucked her hips harder and harder against me, until we were settled into an even motion of pure desire raging through us.
My erection expanded in her warm pussy and she bit down on my shoulder, so she wouldn’t scream loud and blow our cover to all the guests of the party. The sharp pain that shot through my shoulder wasn’t anything I couldn’t deal with as I pounded in and out of her, while rubbing my hands up and down her back, massaging her with pleasure.
I tried not to focus on my breathing, but I could see my breath in the cold air as I exhaled deeply. “Tasha, I love you so much,” I groaned out against her ear.
Drive Me Wilde Page 8
